"Welcome!"
"Welcome!"
"Welcome!"
"The next pony to say 'welcome' is getting a Flash Force where the sun don't shine," Flash groaned as the seven walked down the street.
Twilight was too lost in thought to tell the pegasus off, continuing to stare at the mark-less ponies around them. "A cutie mark is a representation of a pony's unique talents and skills. How is it possible to-" Her question was cut short by the horrified sounds of Rarity gasping.
"What in the name of Equestria is that?!" She pointed to one of the stores, where a bulky earth pony was standing next to a rack of potato sack cloaks.
"Welcome!" The store keep announced, Applejack and Rainbow needing to grab Flash before he drew out Lightbringer. "Care to sample some local fashion? We've got cloaks this month!"
Rarity almost vomited at the thought of wearing one. "Wha-ooh-er," she started to slowly back away. "Perhaps another time good sir, thank you." The group quickly moved away, only to find themselves at some sort of café, which they sat down at as Rarity whispered, "No wonder nopony's wearing anything!"
"Really, girls!" Fluttershy growled in a hushed tone, "They may do things a bit differently than we're used to, but that's no reason to be rude!"
"No, the reason to be rude is that they all keep staring at us!" Rainbow grumbled back as she pointed at the now passing ponies, all staring with an accompanying creepy smile.
"I swear I've had a nightmare just like this," Flash said with a shiver down his spine. "This place better not have any clowns...or yellow rats."
"Need something?" Double Diamond asked from his spot across the street.
"Uh...no! We're good!" Twilight responded as she turned back to the group while a unicorn mare stepped up to them and began to speak in her own hushed manner. "Fluttershy's right. If we're going to get to the bottom of why the map sent us here, we'll need the help of these ponies."
Applejack just tipped her hat down, "Ah think we ran off to the end of Equestria before we even knew what that map was!"
"If we were at the end of Equestria, we'd be sitting on a big old 'A'!" Pinkie giggled while Flash tried to hold back his own laughter. "Get it?"
"Oh please, Miss Pie!" Rarity reprimanded, "This is hardly the time for jokes! We've come all this way, and for what?"
"Maybe you're right," Twilight added while crossing her hooves. "But we're here now, and it sure feels like something's wrong."
"That and two bits'll get'cha a cup of cider," Applejack finished.
"Is this a bad time?" The unicorn mare asked, trying to maintain her smile.
"We shouldn't be bickering like this in front of our new friends," Fluttershy told the table before turning to the farm pony. "Really Applejack, you're almost as bad as Rainbow Dash!"
"Don't drag me into this!" Rainbow growled, Flash now noticing several foals being pushed away or having their ears covered.
"Hmm?" Flash muttered to himself, tilting his head in confusion.
"Um...are you all okay? Is your friendship ending?" He turned back to the shopkeep, raising an eyebrow at her question.
"Are you crazy?!" Pinkie asked her. "We'd never let a disagreement get in the way of food!"
"O...kay. Well, my name is Sugar Belle. What can I bring you?" She pulled out a notepad. "We have: muffins..." The group blinked at her, ready to hear more...only for nothing.
Everypony glancing at each other, Twilight decided to speak up. "Then I guess we'll take seven muffins!"
"Make that thirteen!" Pinkie cheered as Sugar Belle headed inside, seeing the others frown at her. "What? I'm hungry!"
"Same," Flash replied while his stomach let out a grumbling moan. "But with this place being so bland, I bet the food they serve has little too no taste as well."
Fluttershy was about to scold him, but Twilight spoke up first. "Come on everypony, we've got to stick together. It doesn't matter what happened before, we're here now."
"Ah guess you're right," Applejack continued while pushing her hat back up. "And the sooner we figure out why, the sooner we can go home." Before anypony could say anything else, a plate of muffins appeared on the table, only for everypony's noses to stiffen at the treats' pungent aroma.
Sugar Belle did a small cough as she pushed the plate to the middle, "Forgive me for overhearing, but just a moment ago you were disagreeing, and now it sounds like you're...agreeing." She looked them over, her grin shaking as they all gave her raised eyebrows.
"Uh-huh?" Applejack asked. "Yer point?"
"Well, you had such differing opinions...and cutie marks."
"We have differing opinions all the time, darling."
"But you look like you're friends."
"We are friends," Twilight added while placing a hoof on the table. "A simple disagreement wouldn't change that."
Flash nodded in agreement. "In fact, sometimes an argument can help strengthen a friendship."
Sugar Belle blinked at this, an almost pained look appearing on her face. "I'm sorry, but I'm just having a hard time understanding. Different talents lead to different opinions, which lead to bitterness and misery." Everypony rose an eyebrow again at this, "So...why aren't you bitter and...?"
She didn't finish her question as Pinkie suddenly spat out on of the muffins she'd just eaten. The pink mare let out a choking sound, only to see everypony staring at her, including Sugar Belle, "Uhhh...I mean, that was good..."
Sugar Belle smiled, the first genuine smile any of them had noticed from these ponies. "It's all right, I know I'm not a very good baker. At least, I know I'm not any better than anypony else in the village." She then darted her eyes around, Flash noticing her gaze turn to Double Diamond, "Well, I...hope you enjoy our little village!"
As soon as she looked away, Pinkie unrolled her tongue and tried to get the remaining muffin parts off, Flash grumbling as he picked one up, "Oh come on, they can't be that bad."
He bit into it, only to instantly freeze before falling back like a lumber-jacked tree. The mares all looked down at the pegasus, who's soul was currently trying to escape from his mouth. That is, till Sugar Belle whispered to Twilight, "Come inside before you go! Meet me downstairs!" She then shot Double Diamond one last smile before rushing inside.
Rainbow tilted her head at this, "Oookay, that was weird too."
Twilight glanced back at Flash, only to see Pinkie pull a Dustbuster out of her mane and use it to suck up Flash's ghost before blowing it back into his body. Blinking at this, she looked away and saw all the townsponies staring at them. "Let's all sit here and eat these muffins and act normal. I think we're being watched."
"Ya think?" Rainbow spat as Flash woke up.
"No, not like that!" She gestured her head over to Double Diamond, "I mean somepony here doesn't want us talking to Sugar Belle." They all shot a glance at the earth pony as he ate one of the killer muffins.
"Ah got an idea," Applejack whispered before turning to her party planning friend. "But ya'll gotta eat all of them muffins, Pinkie."
"Me?!" The mare yelped while trying to hide behind her mane. "Why me?!"
"Ya'll got a stronger stomach than any of us." Applejack pointed at the store, "And that filly in there might be our best chance at findin' out what the hay is goin' on round here."
Pinkie did a long gulp as she stared at the muffins, tears trying to appear in her eyes. While she took the first muffin, Twilight gave Flash a knowing smirk, "So...what was it like to die?"
"Not...bad? Goldy one through twelve said hi."
"One through twelve? She asked before turning back to Pinkie, the pink pony munching down the last muffin as her face turned full green.
"Ah can't believe you ate all our muffins, Pinkie Pie!" Applejack said in a fake annoyed voice. "We'd best go inside and get some more!" The others all nodded and headed inside, Flash helping 'roll' Pinkie along the ground as her new fat body couldn't support her new weight.
Once inside, they looked behind the counter and spotted a trapdoor, the group following the stairs inside as Twilight called back, "Nice work, Pinkie."
"Even I wouldn't have had the guts to pull that off," Flash added as he helped Pinkie down.
Once at the bottom, she moaned while pushing herself up. "I've accidentally eaten cardboard tastier than that."
Twilight glanced around the cellar, but saw nothing. "Hello? Sugar Belle?"
"Thank you for coming!" They turned to the voice and saw the mare step put of the darkness, that horrible fake smile still plastered on her lips.
"Why did you want us to come down here?"
Sugar Belle's face started to morph, now showing an almost sinister smirk, "So nopony could see what's about to happen." As she said that, Party Favor and the pegasus mare they had met before walked out of the darkness. Together, the three trotted over with crazy looks on their faces.
Twilight sparked her horn while Flash reached for his weapon, only for Party Favor to hop in front of them, "Are you really the Princess of Friendship?!"
"Do you know Princess Celestia?!" The pegasus mare asked next.
Sugar Belle grabbed Pinkie's flank, "I love your cutie mark!"
Flash reflexively took to the air, "Oookay, this has gone from weird to straight up bizarro."
This got a laugh from the pegasus mare. "You're funny. I'm Night Glider by the way. So how can you be friends with different cutie marks? Don't you end up hating each other?"
Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "Why would I hate somepony for being different than me? I mean, I'd probably hate somepony who was just like me than somepony different...or at least be really annoyed." The others slightly nodded in agreement except Fluttershy, only for the pegasi to gasp as Sugar Belle grabbed her flank.
"Look at this one! This one's great too!" She pulled back and shined a dreamy grin, "Oh, I'd love to have my special talent back, even it was just for a day!" The unicorn let out a sigh next, "Then maybe I could make something besides those disgusting muffins..."
"So what's stopping you?" Rainbow asked as with a slight frown, "Go get your cutie marks back."
Party Favor did a big gulp, "Daydreaming is one thing, but you mean actually having it put back on? That seems extreme."
"I'm not sure Starlight would like that," Sugar Belle continued. "She wants us all to be happy in our sameness."
"But are you happy?" Flash asked next. "Were your lives before coming here really that bad? Heck, how'd you even end up here in the first place?"
Party Favor answered first, "I was travelling home after helping out at a birthday party. I came across this place and Starlight offered me a place to rest before returning home. One night turned into a week, which turned into a few weeks, and then...I just never left."
"Seriously?"
"The same thing happened to us," Glider replied with Sugar Belle nodding.
"So when did you decide to have your cutie marks removed?" Rarity asked, pointing at their equal signs.
Party Favor did a small shrug, "Well, I was a little skeptical about it at first, but then I saw how happy everypony was and decided to see what life was like after giving it up."
This made the whole group grimace, all exchanging glances before Twilight looked back at Party Favor, "Say...how do you take somepony's cutie mark anyway?"
Flash nodded in agreement. "Yeah! I don't think these things were designed to come off."
The three smiled back as Night Glider responded, "The cutie unmarking is a beautiful experience! Starlight uses the Staff of Sameness to magically take them away and replace them with these." They then pointed to the equal signs.
"But nopony should keep you from your cutie mark," Twilight told them. "It represents such an essential part of who you are."
"Oh, we're not kept from them. They're in the vault up in the caves. We can visit them anytime we would like to remind us of the heartache of a life with special talents."
Flash and Twilight shared a glance next, the alicorn raising an eyebrow as she tried to not glare back at them, "Can we visit this cave?"
After their talk with the trio, the heroes headed over to Starlight's house and asked about the cave. Gladly accepting their interest, the unicorn started leading them to the tunnel, "I'm delighted you're interested in our cutie mark vault. We hope someday every pony in Equestria will make a pilgrimage here to our little village to have theirs removed too, and our message of perfectly equal friendship can finally spread across the land."
It was here that her rant kept going, but the seven blocked her out while Twilight went into a hushed whisper, "This must be the reason we're here."
"Pilgrimaging?" Pinkie asked, Flash resisting to facehoof at the response.
"No! Helping those ponies get their cutie marks back."
Fluttershy put her hoof over her mouth, "Oh, are you sure Twilight? Maybe they miss them a little, but they didn't seem all that unhappy."
"Then why did they want to meet us in secret?" Twilight countered before glaring back at Starlight. "And why did they ask us not to tell Starlight who told us about the vault? Something's not right."
"Well, don't worry," Flash assured her. "Whatever's up with this place, we can handle it. Heck, this'll be nothing compared to what we've faced before."
"Just through here!" Starlight said at the mouth of the cave, only for to flash her hoof at the group. "Just a moment," she pointed to Flash's sword. "I'm afraid this area is a no weapon zone. You understand, right?"
Flash pulled Lightbringer out and stared at it, a dark glare following this. He looked back up to Twilight, who nodded, making him sigh before putting it down against a rock.
As this happened, Starlight's grin slightly grew as she gestured them to go inside. Inside, they all looked up and went wide-eyed, "Behold! Our cutie mark vault!"
They followed her hoof and saw a large crystal wall that was split into multiple square slots. And within most of the slots were images they instantly recognised. Cutie marks.
"I've never seen anything like it!" Twilight gasped, putting her hoof over her mouth in disbelief.
As Flash scanned the vault over, he saw a wooden staff with a tuning fork like end sitting by the wall. "Is that-"
"Yes!" Starlight exclaimed as she pulled it off the wall, "Its the legendary Staff of Sameness! It was one of the great Mage Meadowbrook's nine enchanted items."
This made Flash and Twilight raise an eyebrow, glancing at each other as Flash leaned over and whispered, "Say, I know I didn't listen to you much over the years, but didn't Mage Meadowbrook have only eight?"
"Shh! We'll talk later." Twilight shushed back.
"We are incredibly fortunate to have it here. This is the tool that allows us to free ourselves from our marks!" Starlight continued, only to turn back to them, a look of pure skepticism and suspicion on her face. "I'm curious though..." she pointed at them. "How did the subject of the vault come up?!"
Pinkie spoke up here, "Oh! Some ponies were telling us how much they missed their cutie marks, and-"
"Pinkie!" Twilight interrupted.
"Zip it!" Flash added.
Pinkie slapped her hooves over her mouth. "Oops..." Before they could scold her, Starlight's gasp made them turn back to her.
"Were they?" Starlight trotted over to the others while spinning the staff, only to glare back at the Mane Seven, "Well, it seems you lot inspire all sorts of free thinking, don't you?"
"So what if we do? Free thinking is a common right of everypony." Flash casually replied, waving his hoof.
Starlight's glare intensified. "Free thinking leads to a difference in opinion. A difference in opinion leads to arguments and arguments lead to the breaking of friendships. That's why everypony must be the same, so that true everlasting friendship can be obtained." She pointed the staff at them, "Free thinking is a dangerous thing to inspire."
Rarity began to nervously laugh at the sight, "Well, w-we certainly didn't intend to cause any disruptions to your charming little-"
"Good," Starlight interrupted as she got right in Rarity's face. "Let's just make sure of that, shall we?!" Rarity started to backpedal, only to turn and Double Diamond. The rest all soon saw more of the townsponies appearing out of the shadows.
"It's a trap!" Twilight yelped before she spread her wings and teleported into the air. She sparked her horn, only for Starlight to point the staff and fire a blast of blue magic. The beam struck the alicorn and made her freeze up, which made her feel a strange sensation in her flank. She looked back and gasped when she saw her cutie mark begin to peel off her body.
The others saw this too as Flash shot into the air, "TWILIGHT!" But as he tried to save her, a second beam hit him and the group. A scream of pain followed as they all froze, Flash staring at Twilight as her cutie mark was yanked from her flank, only to be replaced with an equal mark. As this happened, Twilight fell to the ground like a rock, her form slumping over as Flash muttered, "No..."
Starlight's grin kept growing as Twilight's cutie mark moved over to the vault along with Rainbow's, Fluttershy's, Pinkie's, Applejack's and Rarity's cutie marks were ripped off at the same time. The whole group fell over as Starlight looked back at the Mane Seven, raising an eyebrow at seeing the still-standing Flash, "Oh? Looks like we have a tough one here." Her grin grew wider as she glared at the pegasi, "Don't worry, I will make sure your cutie mark is well taken care of."
Flash's hooves started to grind into the dirt as he felt his cutie mark being pulled off, his knowledge and skills about fighting behind yanked out with it. "No...no..." he groaned as he tried to open his wings, only to feel them be pinned to the ground. He glared back up at Starlight, now seeing a smirk on her face as her magic intensified over his body.
"Just accept it. You will become like all the rest, equal and-"
"NO!" Flash barked back, closing his eyes as he put every ounce of strength into his hooves. As he did this, something clicked. Power flowed through him, like a tap unclogged on a faucet. "Let...me...GO!" His eyes shot open, revealing pure gold over his pupils as the light from them shot out a shockwave. The resulting burst of energy shook the cave, hitting everypony and knocking them back.
Starlight let out a yelp of pain as she was thrown into the vault, the staff flying out of her magic and landing a few feet from Flash. The defender started to slump over again, his hooves holding his head as what felt like a thousand needles struck his brain, "Ugh...oh..." He started to stumble his hooves forward, only to tap the staff. Looking down, he grabbed the staff before looking back, a small smile appearing on his face as he saw his cutie mark was still there.
His ears perked up as he started hearing moaning all around him, his eyes glancing over to see his friends all still markless. Twilight then locked her eyes with Flash, the duo having a mental conversation as a new voice rang out, "How dare you!"
Flash turned to the voice's owner, seeing a now angry Starlight. He readied himself for a fight, only to feel his hooves shake like jelly. "Dang...that took a lot out of me." Flash whispered as he looked back at Twilight, now seeing a nod from her. Doubts were instantly cleared as he flared his wings, "I'll be back for you girls! Just wait for me for a little bit!" With that, he took to the air and shot out of the cave, the staff in his grasp.
"NO!" Starlight screamed as she picked herself up. "Somepony, stop him! He can't let him get away with the staff!"
The townponies all went wide-eyed, panic on their faces, "Oh no! What if he destroys it?!"
"He won't do that. He'd be fool to destroy the one thing that could return his friends cutie marks to them. Spread out and find him!" Starlight commanded, the others nodding before sprinting out of the cave. Smirking at the sight, she turned to the six remaining mares. "Don't worry, your friend will soon be back with you and will be freed from the evils of cutie marks."
"They're not evil!" Twilight growled as she tried to get up, only to fall over, "Give them back!"
"Oh, don't be like that. Now you can spend the rest of your lives here with us! We'll teach you just how much better life can be without your cutie marks!" The six mares all paled at the statement, now seeing Starlight's smile return as they turned to look at the exit of the cave, gulping as their hope now rested with the now gone defender.
Hours passed as the many townsponies continued their search for the escaped Flash and their precious staff. As Celestia and Luna swapped their celestial bodies, Double Diamond was trotting through some rocky terrain that surrounded the town. "Come out Flash! You're only delaying the inevitable. Soon, all of Equestria will be liberated from the shackles of a cutie mark. Don't you realize the danger you're putting Equestria in?"
His ears perked up next as the sound of rocks started to roll down the side of a cliff, making him look up at a nearby mountain side. He slowly walked up and saw a small cave, which he heard another sound of falling pebbles. "Huh?"
He started to walk into the cave next, his fake smile slowly shrinking as the sun finally finished setting, the cave now dropping into total pitch darkness. The sight made Double Diamond start to backpedal to the exit, only to feel something brush his back. The pony let out a yelp as he spun around, only to go wide-eyed as he saw a pair of blue eyes, and they did not look happy.
Double Diamond opened his mouth to scream, only for everything to suddenly go black. His consciousness faded next, time soon passing. It was quite a while before he reopened his eyes, blinking as his brain caught up to reality. The pony slowly lifted himself up, now seeing the moon's light filter into the cave.
Blinking again at this, he started to look around, now seeing several large rocks, bushes and a small spring. His now parched throat made him want to try and move over to the water, only to find he couldn't move anything below his head. Feeling a small tug, he glanced down and found his body had been tied to large rock.
It was here that the sound wings made him crane his neck around and see Flash fly past him, carrying several sticks in his hooves. He dropped them in front of Double Diamond, now glaring at him as he started to build a fire, "Welcome to the world of the living. Do me a favor and stay quiet. I'm not in the mood to listen to your fake happy voice."
"It's not fake! And let me go!"
"Criminals don't get to make demands."
"I'm not a criminal." This made Flash shoot him an glare before he leaned over, their eyes soon mere millimeters away from one another.
"Oh really?! So did my friends and I happen to cross a border?! The last I checked, theft, kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment are crimes in Equestria!"
"We're only trying to help you and your friends."
Flash blew a raspberry at this, "Oh please, help us from what?! Being who were are? You stole what made my friends who they are. Heck, you stole part of their very soul, and now you're holding them hostage!" Flash gripped Double Diamond's neck as a snarl release from the defender's nostrils, "You do realize what you've done, don't you? Not only have you captured six of Equestria's greatest heroes, but you've also kidnapped one of its princesses. By all rights, I should have flown straight to Canterlot and returned with an army to level this place!"
Double Diamond went wide-eyed at this, his smile wavering as sweat began to flow down his face. "We...we only wanted to help. To show you the evils of cutie marks."
"Tch." Flash growled as he let go of the pony and sat back down, now putting the sticks together. "I can't believe what I'm hearing."
"Its true! They're evil!"
"No they're not. That's just crazy talk if you ask me." Flash instantly replied as he started scraping a pair of rocks together. Glancing back up, a softer expression started to appear on the defender's face as he asked, "Say...what could have happened in your life to make you think cutie marks are evil? They're nothing more than a representation of you."
"But they lead to you thinking your better than everypony, which means you'll never have true friendship."
Flash rolled his eyes as the rocks made a spark, which ignited the sticks, "You're either really dumb, or this Starlight chick knows some kind of brainwashing spell."
"She didn't brainwash me. She's not able to. She has no special talent, which means she doesn't have the magical skill to do that kind of magic. That's what makes the unmarking so important. No special talents means we can't hide our abilities from one another. That's why you need to returned the Staff of Sameness, so we can continue to free ponies from the lie of their cutie marks." He blinked at this, "Say, where is it anyway?"
"Oh, I hid it somewhere nopony will ever find it." Flash smirked while crossing his hooves.
Double Diamond just gave him a flat stare before gesturing his head, "It's in that bush over there, isn't it?" Flash's eyes glanced at the bush, saying nothing before raising a hoof.
One bonk to the head later...
Double Diamond blinked his eyes open, his vision now seeing a fire properly blazing with Flash using a stick to keep it going. "Now it's hidden where you'll never find it."
"Please don't do this! Don't you see?! This is what the ancient ponies of Equestria want! Why else would Mage Meadowbrook wield the staff?!"
"I don't know what that staff is, but I know it didn't belong to Meadowbrook. Twilight loved to talk about her back in the day, and I don't remember Twilight mentioning a staff." Flash put the stick down, "For all we know, that thing was made by an enemy of Equestria so they could weaken the ponies and defeat them. It's evil."
"YOU'RE LYING!" Double Diamond yelled, his smile turning into an angry scowl for a second.
Flash blinked at this, now seeing the scowl morph back into the giant grin, "Wow. You actually emoted for a second there. Guess all you needed is a little time away from that place and you'll begin to turn back to normal."
"I am normal, and soon your friends will be normal too. Please believe me! What's happening to them is a good thing. I was one of the first to be saved by Starlight and the staff, and I've seen many ponies be saved afterwards! All of them are happy!"
"And how many of them had their cutie marks removed without their permission, like with my friends?!"
"I'll admit that some of them needed more convincing than others, but it was for the greater good." Diamond's smile started to waver again. "You'll see. Soon your friends will be happy they came here and had Starlight do what she did. They'll be normal."
Flash replied with a glare as he flexed his hooves' muscles, "You're right, because I'm gonna save them and get their cutie marks back. Heck, they're probably working on an escape plan as we speak." Flash cricked his neck as he got up, "But if I wanna help them, I need to be at full power. So...what did you do with Lightbringer?"
"Who?"
"My Celestic Gear. The sword I was carrying that your boss made me leave outside the cave. When I got back outside, it was gone."
"Starlight told us you wouldn't need it anymore, so she had us take it away. She's probably gonna melt it down for metal, like she did with all our belongings that showed individuality."
Flash almost had a heart attack hearing this, only for his brain's gears to shift. His memories told him that Celestic Gears couldn't be destroyed by anything other than Alicorn magic or another Celestic Gear. Gritting his teeth, he moved over to a patch of grass that was next to the boulder as he thought up a small lie, "Well, it'll take her a while to do that, so I'm going to bed. If I hear a peep out of you, expect another hoof to the face."
Double Diamond's smile started to turn into a frown as he glanced over to the spring. A sigh followed this, making Flash look up and see the pony actually emote. Following his gaze, he walked over and cupped his hooves into the water, soon bringing it back to Double Diamond, "Here, you're not gonna be much of a bargaining chip to me dead."
Double Diamond shined a huge grin before greedily drinking down the water, savoring its refreshing taste. Once he was satisfied, Flash spun around and slumped down to go to sleep. Seeing this, memories of his time before coming here returned for Double Diamond, making him feel a long lost sensation in his skin.
It was the feel of blasting down the mountain snow on his skis, the rush of icy wind in his face.
The memories continued as a new feeling entered his head. Regret. That thought invaded his head as he looked back at Flash, remembering his words about Starlight.
In a low whisper, he muttered out, "I…I don't understand. Am I...wrong?" Her stared back at the exit of the cave, "Starlight...are you wrong?"
The next morning...
As the sun and moon switched places, Flash arrived back at the cliffside where he and his friends first saw the town. Having left Double Diamond tied up with plenty of water and shade, he now stared at the town as he watched the ponies walk around the buildings.
"Looks like they're still looking for me." Flash commented to himself as he scanned each one over, "None of them are really a threat one on one, but there's no way I can take them all on without my trusty blade." Crossing his hooves at the sight, his left eyebrow lifted up as he saw Starlight walk around, announcing something, "Then again, she's my main target, though I'm not sure if I can take her without Lightbringer."
He watched the unicorn walk around, all the townponies following her. Seeing this, he flew over the village, hiding in the clouds till he could land on the roof of one of the buildings without being seen. There, he saw Starlight lead his friends out of a shack as she said, "Gather round friends, gather round! We've come to ask if any of you are ready to join us! There are so many friends to make once you realize you don't need your cutie marks or the talents that come with them."
"There's a welcome ceremony!" one of the townsponies added.
Another one nodded. "Then, the whole village joins together to help build-"
"Not interested!" Rainbow interrupted. "You may have them now, but we're going to get our cutie marks back!"
Applejack slammed her hooves down, "Y'all don't understand, do ya?! You can't force nopony to be friends! It don't work like that!"
"Please, join us!" A stallion asked.
"We love new friends!" A mare let out.
Starlight walked in front of the town group, "It's all right everypony. This is a perfectly normal part of the equalization process for those who haven't...quite seen the light yet." She turned back to the mane seven, "We'll try again tomorrow once you've had a bit more time to consider our philosophy!"
Flash watched as the girls headed back inside, only for Twilight and Fluttershy to come to a stop. There, the buttercream pegasus yelled out, "I'd like to join!" She then placed a hoof over her mouth as the townponies began to chatter at the sight.
Flash's heart began to sink as he watched the scene, only to glance over at Twilight. His brain immediately clicked as he watched her expression, one he knew all too well as the princess spoke up, "Fluttershy?! How could you?!"
Breathing a sigh of relief, Flash whispered, "You sly lying little minx."
Fluttershy walked over to Starlight while wearing a half nervous expression, "If giving up my cutie mark means I get to stay in this lovely village with these lovely ponies, then I'll do it."
Starlight shined a huge grin while directing Twilight back into the house, Flash spotting a smirk appear on the alicorn's lips, "We have a new friend, everypony!" The ponies all cheered at this while patting Fluttershy on the back, Starlight putting her hoof around her before glaring at the town, "Now, this is all and good, but there's a few more orders of business. For one, it seems somepony in our midst might be...dissatisfied with the village life!"
Flash watched as the ponies all gasped, making him now see Party Favor and the others. "Not good."
"Unfortunately, it's all too true my friends!" Starlight turned to Fluttershy, her grin now hiding a dark glare. "Will you kindly tell us the names of those friends who so desperately miss their cutie marks that they would sneak around in the shadows, all the while talking to strangers about it?! Its just so we can be sure your intentions are indeed pure."
Flash saw the sweat starting to appear on Fluttershy's face, her form shivering. He started to extend his wings as he watched Fluttershy reply, "Ummm…I don't know who they were. I'm sorry, I don't know your names or faces yet."
"Nonsense! Obviously these ponies must have asked you directly." Starlight pointed at the crowd, "Kindly point them out!"
Panic began to fill Flash's being, his hooves starting to press down on house's roof. Gritting at the scene, he was ready to go down and try to rescue the girl. "Twilight...sorry, but I might have to botch your plan. I can't let Fluttershy-"
"It was me!" Everypony's gaze turned to Party Favor, "It was only me!" He ran up to Starlight and got down on his knees. "But I only wanted it back for a little while!"
Starlight glared down at him and raised his chin to look up at her, "And you're quite certain it was only you?"
Party Favor looked away, "I just wanted to remember what it was like."
"And no thought to the pain you'd cause your friends," Starlight sighed in a heartbroken voice. "Such selfishness." She pointed at the building, Party Favor slowly walking into it.
"I'm sorry, everypony! I never wanted to leave the village!" Party cried as he walked inside, "I love all of-" The shutting of the building's door cut him off.
Starlight turned back while shaking her head, "Such a shame. Just shows the damage that free thinking can do." Her face morphed into a semi-glare, "Now, let's clear up the final matter. Has anypony seen Double Diamond this day?" The ponies all exchanged glances, the town replying with shakes of the head.
"It's as I feared then. Double Diamond must have been captured by that brutish Flash Sentry. Oh, who knows what that crazed pony is doing to our dear friend, attempting to corrupt him with ideas of trying to retake his cutie mark." This made all the ponies gasp. "We must find our friend and the staff, for the good of all of Equestria." The ponies all nodded in agreement as Starlight began to show Fluttershy around.
As she did this, her gaze spotted something on a nearby roof that made her do a double take. But as she stared, she saw nothing else, making her hum in response.
While she did this, Flash breathed a sigh of relief as he hid behind a rock away from the town. "That was way too close." The defender slumped over, sighing again, "Why couldn't the map have sent us somewhere relaxing?!"